51,443 Shares in Blackstone Inc. $BX Bought by SCS Capital Management LLC

SCS Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 51,443 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $6,053,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Palladiem LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. West Branch Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 26,600.0% in the second quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 267 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BX. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $147.95.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total value of $1,379,685.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 64,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,359,783.04. The trade was a 12.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $4,066,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 869,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $117,883,632.95. This trade represents a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders bought 1,339,180 shares of company stock valued at $35,062,433 and sold 7,562,000 shares valued at $40,331,085. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $143.94 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $108.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.20, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.55. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $126.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.51. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 115.44%.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.